Cherry Blossom (Sakura) Dango

Ingredients

Cherry blossom bean paste

1 cup navy beans *see notes
2/3 cup organic cane sugar *see notes
1 tablespoon cherry blossom powder
20 salt preserved cherry blossoms
1/8 teaspoon beet powder (for color)

Dango

3/4 cup shiratamako flour (glutinous rice four) *see notes
1/2 cup joshinko (Japanese rice flour) *see notes
3/4 cup boiling water

Instructions

Cherry blossom bean paste (make a day before)

Soak the beans in water overnight for 12 hours. In the morning rinse the beans and add some warm water to the bowl. Roughly stir the beans with your hands. This will make the beans outer skin come off. Discard the skins. It's ok if not all of the skins come off. Removing the skins helps to make a smooth bean paste.
Drain the beans and place into a pot. Cover with about 2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 2 minutes while foam starts to appear. Pour the beans into a sieve to drain the water. Rinse the pot and put the beans back into the pot. Cover with 2 inches of water and place back onto the stove. (Discarding the first cooking water helps to make the beans more digestible.) Bring the beans to a boil. Cover with a lid slightly ajar and turn down to a low simmer. The water should be lightly bubbling. Cook for 40-45 minutes. Check the beans periodically. There should always be enough water to cover the beans. The beans are done when they can easily be crushed by the back of a spoon.
While the beans are cooking prepare the cherry blossoms. Take 20-25 cherry blossoms and remove the stems. Place the flowers in a bowl filled with room temperature water. Let them soak for about 20 minutes. Rinse the flowers and place them on a clean tea towel or paper towels. Pat dry. It's ok if they are still slightly moist. Finely chop them and set aside.
Once the beans are cooked drain them and save some of the cooking liquid. Place the beans into a food processor. Add about 1-2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid. Puree the beans until they are smooth.
Transfer the beans to a sauce pan. Add the sugar and salt. Turn the heat to medium low and slowly stir the mixture. As the sugar dissolves that paste will become looser and softer. Continually stir the paste as it cooks. After 10-15 minutes it should become thicker and reduce in volume. When you can draw a line with your spatula on the bottom of the pan it's ready. Turn off the heat.
Sift the beet powder into the mixture and stir to combine. Add more for a brighter color if desired. Add the cherry blossom powder and chopped cherry blossoms and stir. Transfer the mixer to a container and let cool. Place the lid on and put into the fridge. It will last in the fridge for 2-3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. I usually make the bean paste the day before then freeze the leftovers.

Dango

Add the shiratamako and joshinko flour into a bowl and stir to combine. Boil at least one cup of water. Add the boiling water to the flour mixture a little at a time while stirring. Once the mixture starts to form clumps use your hands to knead. Add a bit more water until it forms a smooth dough. It should not be too wet/sticky or too dry. I used about 3/4 cups of water. You may need slightly less or slightly more.
Divide the dough into 15 pieces. For even dumplings I suggest weighing the dough. Each piece should be 22 grams. Slightly wet your hands and shape the dough into balls. Smooth out any dryness or cracks with a bit of water.
Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. In the meantime prepare a bowl filled with cold water (to dunk the dumplings in after they cook). Soak 5 skewers in water.
Once the pot comes to a boil add all of the dumplings. Stir gently so they don't stick to the bottom. When they float to the surface cook them for another 2 minutes. After 2 minutes remove them from the pot and place them into the bowl of cold water. Transfer them to a pan with a bit of water at the bottom. This will stop them from sticking. Gently skewer 3 dumplings and place on a piece of parchment paper. Continue with the rest of the dumplings. You will have 5 skewers.
Take the cherry blossom bean paste out of the fridge and let it sit at room temp for 15 minutes (when its very cold it's hard to pipe.) Put the piping tip into a piping bag. I use tip #12SP. Fill the bag with the cherry blossom bean paste. Pipe one flower onto each dumpling. You will have leftover bean paste which can be frozen for up to 3 months. Use it to top ice cream, fill sandwich cookies, pipe on to cup cakes or to fill mochi.
Serve the dango immediately, as it's best eaten the same day. If it's put in the fridge it will get very hard. It can be stored at room temperature in a container lined with parchment. Enjoy!

Notes

*Any white bean can be used such as lima beans (butter beans), white kidney beans or navy beans. I have not tried using canned beans but I think that it will work just the same.

*Use either white sugar or organic cane sugar in order to keep the paste a light colour.

*Dango is best made with a blend of shiratamako and joshinko flour. They can usually be found at any Japanese grocery store or they can be purchased online on Amazon. Sweet rice flour or mochiko will not give you the same results so I do not recommend using it.

Nutrition